


Why Do You Love Me?

by Big_Soup_Time



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:41:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29465184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Big_Soup_Time/pseuds/Big_Soup_Time
Summary: Zuko is having nightmares and there is only one person that understands enough to help him. But is she just making a friend feel better....or something more?
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8
Collections: Avatar: The Last Airbender





	1. Wake Up

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first story and I've just gotten really inspired to write this and i hope someone enjoys it

" _Zuko you will learn respect and suffering will be your teacher"_ the face of his father floated before him screaming the same line over and over again. This nightmare has been happening ever since he was banished, however this time he could hear another voice calling to him. One very familiar but distant yet building in volume.

" _Wake up Zuko wake up_ " the voice got louder and louder until it was so deafening it drowned out the painful screams of his fathers ranting but then he saw two ocean blue eyes looking down at him. they were filled with concern and fear not a look those eyes had conveyed much in the past. Finally he heard her voice 

"Zuko are you awake? are you okay?" the voice was filled with worry and he didn't understand why until he looked down at himself. the bed he was laying on was smoldering and his skin was red hot. He looked around the room he was in, his old family home on Ember Island, their hiding place. He took a moment to gather his surroundings and tried to sit up but Katara started to push him back down into bed right away.

"Zuko your burning up lay down ill get you some water". She covered him with the blanket and left to go get the water. he laid alone in the now bright room regulating his body temperature which was a normal occurrence after nightmares like those. Zuko focused on breathing deep and steady but in order to gain some cool air he got out of bed to stand outside. As he walked out the rest of team avatar or the Gaang as Sokka loved to say were out in the courtyard chatting except for Katara. Aang perked up when he saw Zuko and ran up to him.

"Morning Sifu Hotman! You ready to get started on todays training? I think I figured out how to do the Dragon Cry and I really wanna show you!"

"Um yeah sure we can start I guess" said Zuko with a dry throat and his usually raspy voice. The duo got in position and started their warmups but it seemed like the hardest thing Zuko had ever done in his life. His vison blurred and he was starting to lose his footing he could hear from far away 

"uh sparky are you okay?"

"Zuko you look si- Oh he's falling!"

"Then catch him!" then it all faded to black. Zuko woke up again for the second time in less than an hour but this time he was lying in the shade under the roof of the porch. All the rest of the team was standing over him but Katara pushed through them and said,

"Zuko I said stay in bed! What is so hard about that? First screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night and now your collapsing in the middle of training? What's going on with you?" she looked at him with concerned eyes yet again and bended the water into mouth.

"It's nothing just tired" he said roughly but the rest obviously did not believe him and made their thoughts known.

"You might be tired but that doesn't explain the screaming last night Sparky" Toph said in a very uncharacteristic small voice.

"I'm. Fine." Zuko felt his temper start to flair up inside him. They were right of course but he could never admit that to any of them. He was there to help and it wouldn't be fair to burden them with his problems after all the pain he had caused them. 

"Fine at least let us help you back to bed, your in no condition to train and I'm sure Aang can handle a day without fire bending practice" said Sokka in his usual chilled out manner. Zuko nodded and before anyone could reach down to help him up Katara was already there letting him lean on her. She lend him back to the stairs and helped him back into his room. He sat on his bed and she sat beside him.

"Zuko your not acting normal...are you sure your okay? you really worried us...Toph was really freaked out, that screaming last night it sounded scary, you kept saying the word no and I'm sorry over and over. Was it a nightmare?"

"Yeah....yeah it was"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to thank you if you actually got this far and know that i really appreciate it and you so have a wonder day


	2. Talk To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara tries to get Zuko to open up. Zuko and Toph have a heart to heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you actually decided to keep reading your the best and thanks so much ill do my best to make a good story!

"What was the nightmare about?" Katara asked softly looking into Zuko's Molten gold eyes. As much as she hated to admit it when he stared at her with this brooding almost but not quite angry face it intimidated her.

"it wasn't about anything so you can stop worrying" Zuko said in a more hurried tone than he wished, it betrayed his sense of calm and made him sound anxious. he looked down at her and sighed "Katara I'm fine"

"your lying to me, I know you are and I'm not going to stop asking until you tell me." said Katara in her impatient angry voice she used when trying to scold or mother the rest of the group but instantly softened "Was it about home?"

"I don't even know if I have a home anymore, my title has been taken, I am a traitor to my Nation, my whole family wants me dead and I cant do the one thing I'm supposed to do!" yelled Zuko not at Katara herself but more to the empty room they sat in a tear ran down his face but quickly turned into nothing from the heat on his face. He wanted to scream or cry or fight but he could do none of that, not in front of her. She had essentially mother this group or random teens and children and he was her only real support. Zuko refused to become another burden on her for he had learned how to deal with his issues on his own. For years that's exactly what he had to do.

"Zuko...." she said in a quite voice, she could hear the pain in his voice "Zuko you do have a home, your home is here with us...your friends" she sat a bit closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder she couldn't help but think about how he smelled like a warm campfire. Katara could feel him shaking but she couldn't tell why exactly. Zuko stood up suddenly and before she could convince him to sit back in bed he walked out of the room. 

"Zuko wait!" Katara started to chase after him but ran into Sokka in the hallway.

"let him go Katara, who knows what goes on in that guys head but I say its best to let him figure it out....besides Aang wont stop asking where you are so lets go back to everyone else." Katara sighed deeply and walked with her brother back to the courtyard. the rest of the group was quick to ask what was going on but she dismissed them as she herself didn't quite know. Suki gave Toph a knowing look but Toph simply said

"I know your looking at me but in case you forgot I cant see your face" the pair laughed and the day started to go on as normal besides the fact that Zuko was nowhere to be seen and Katara couldn't stop thinking about him. Down at the beach Zuko sat on a log In front of a long dead campfire. The same campfire he sat at with his sister and her friends. As he sat on the log he finally let out the tears, Zuko sat alone and sobbed to himself while holding his scar. The waves lapped at the warm white sands of ember island in sync with Zuko's tears

"I can't do this....I cant" he sobbed to himself. He let more tears flow then than he had in a long while but they were cut short by a soft quivering voice

"Z-zuko?" Zuko quickly turned around to see Toph walking up to him. he quickly wiped his face knowing she wouldn't be able to see his tears. she sat next to him and but didn't say anything in a long while, she just sat there with him. 

"your sad....I mean that's obvious but....I've never seen you cry....well I've never seen but you get the point" Zuko chucked watery to the jab at herself and just sighed. "you have family problems too we all know but this goes further right?" 

"Yeah...it does" Zuko said trying his best to copy his normal voice and not betray his sense of normalcy 

"I guess you don't have to answer this I mean you wouldn't even talk to Sugar Queen and you two are closer than Sokka and food, but what happened to make you feel...like this?" Zuko's blood went cold when she asked him. His hands started to shake and he could only think back to the Agni Kai when his father burned him. He sat in total silence until he felt a small hand on his arm, when he looked down Toph looked scared.

"My dad, we all know how bad of a person he is but he-" Zuko stifled a sob and continued "he burned me" Toph looked sick, she sat there and just hung onto his arm

"I'm sorry....we all thought it was a training accident, we never would have thought...that." they sat in silence for a while listening to the ocean and the birds before Toph said "you need to tell Katara, she was a mess when I left. When you refused to talk to her it hurt her" Zuko's heart speed up as soon as he heard her name 

"No. I can't do that...she has enough to worry about." Toph giggled sadly and said 

"That's not why....you like her, don't even try to lie I can tell right from your heart beat" Zuko's face went from pale to a slight red and told Toph

"I admire her okay? She is strong and takes care of all of us, so kind and just over all a good person unlike me so don't blame me when I don't want to talk to her about this." Toph looked up at him one more time and said 

"I think you would be surprised and that's all I'm gonna say. I came to get you for lunch so we should go" Zuko nodded and let her walk a while listening to the ocean a bit longer but after a minute got up to join the rest of the Gaang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a fun one to write cause I always loved the brother sister relationship that Toph and Zuko shared but once again if you read this far thank you so much it means a lot to me.


	3. What's Happening To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suki and Toph confront Katara about her feelings. Sokka, Aang and Zuko have some bro time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is going a lot smoother than I expected honestly and I'm glad that a few of you enjoy this. each Kudo that I've received has made me smile and I hope with my story I can return the favor

As Zuko made his way back to the group they all sat at the large family dinner table in the dinning room. They were all Laughing at some joke Sokka had made and in the midst of it Zuko had sat down quietly. The group went a bit more quiet as he joined them but soon resumed their usual shenanigan's, the only one that did not seem normal was Katara that looked over to him every now and then but Zuko brushed it off as nothing. Dinner continued as normal but right at the end Zuko could see Katara being dragged off by Suki and Toph and while he was distracted Sokka and Aang had grabbed his arms pulling him away from the table. 

* * *

Karata's point of view

"What are you doing!? Let go of me!" Katara shouted at her friends pulling her to the beach. "I know how to walk you know!" the two girls just giggled a bit at their struggling friend and ignored her yelling. eventually they reached the edge of the water and let go of her 

"Okay spill it Sugar Queen, what's the deal with you and Zuko right now? Things are super weird with you two" Karata's face slightly flushed and she had a look of surprise plastered across her face. 

"I don't know what your talking about. I'm worried about him and I would think that you two would be worried too!" The two went silent from their laughter and looked slightly hurt, they looked over at Katara and Toph said 

"we do care, Sparky's our friend, me and him had a nice long talk but he refuses to talk to you about it." Katara began to storm back up to the house but Suki could catch her arm before she made it too far. "if you could let me finish...he said he admires you too much and that he doesn't want to burden you with his problems. The main point to this is that he is hurting and we all know it but your the only person that knows how to deal with it" Katara looked shocked and sat down on the beach with the two of her friends. 

"I had no idea, I just thought he was angry at me or something." the group sat on the cold night sand and watch the black sea. "Maybe I'm not the right person for this...he already made it pretty clear he didn't want to talk to me." Karata's heart speed up as she talked about the idea of confronting Zuko about this dark hurt.

"wow you two are hopeless." Toph said shaking her head Katara looked up at the blind girl with a look of confusion. "Wow....look I'm blind not stupid, whenever you two are in a room together your heart rates speed up by more than is probably healthy. If you cant pick up on the fact that you two are totally into each other than your DEFINTLY the blind ones" Karata's face blushed bright red but before she could say anything the two girls stand up and Suki says

"Were gonna leave you alone with that information and hope that you do the right thing with it" Katara just sat in the sand deep in thought. she started to think about Zuko and the only thoughts she could come up with was how his eyes Sparkled like melting gold and how he smelled like a campfire on a cool Fall night.

"spirits.....what's happening to me?"

* * *

Zuko's point to view

"Agni where are you two taking me?" Zuko huffed as the pair pull him through the streets of Ember island. The two boys laugh and reassure him that "its gonna be great" even though Zuko is not too convinced, eventually the two pulled him into a seedy bar off the corner of two shops. the Threesome sat at a table in the corner where nobody but a bar lady would come to serve them. "Okay were here....why did you drag me here?"

"Guys night!" Sokka said like it explained everything but after seeing Zuko's look he softened up "look buddy we know somethings wrong we just wanted to get you to a place where we could talk just us." Aang looked at Zuko and nodded his head softly putting a hand on his shoulder.

"It was just a nightmare, nothing to worry about." The boys did not look convinced and Aang spoke up

"I have nightmares too, about seeing my people wiped out and its terrible..."

"I have them about Dad leaving and never coming back" the three boys sat at the table quiet and looked around at each other before Sokka piped again. "Look Zuko we all have nightmares about pretty bad things but your going through something else...its bad man....we want to help" 

"You cant help me. What's happened has happened and I need to get over it" the other boys looked at him with pity in their eyes but Zuko said again "if you wanna help me just drop it" the boys looked at him again and simply said 

"Fine....but at least talk to Katara, she's worried"

"Not that were not worried but if you want us to stop then we will" said Aang. 

"Now that we got....that....out of the way, were at a bar and its just us. Lets get some drinks" the trio of boys called over the barmaid and ordered drinks and spent the rest of the night drinking away the sorrows of the previous conversation. After hours of drunken shenanigan's the boys made it back to the house and started to go their separate ways into their rooms. but before Zuko could enter his he saw Katara singing on the porch. very gentle words that dripped from her throat like honey. At that moment he noticed how her eyes were that of a clear blue ocean and her hair like curly chocolate waves. Back into his room Zuko fell back into his bed and couldn't stop thinking about her.

"Agni.....what's happening to me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again I hope you enjoyed and love you all!


End file.
